Most people believe that when creating a video for YouTube, they should spend the majority of their time creating the video, and the thumbnail is more of an "afterthought".

Although this is the fastest way to stall the growth of your channel, this mindset makes perfect sense. When people get on YouTube, their goal is to make a great video, not a great thumbnail. So why wouldn't they spend all their time on scripting, filming and editing the final video rather than planning out the thumbnail?

If you have been struggling to grow on YouTube, and spend 10x as much time on your video than on your thumbnails, then maybe it is time to try a new way.

If your Thumbnail doesn't stand out, nobody will watch your video.

Let that sink in for a second. If your thumbnail does not call someone to click on your video, then nobody will see your video.

In mid 2020, I started to dig deep into my YouTube analytics. And I noticed an interesting trend. The videos that had the highest click through rates also had the highest views. It wasn't a perfect correlation, (there are other factors at play here, such as how long people watch the video), but in general the videos with highest views also had very high click through rates.

So here is what I recommend...

Plan out your thumbnails FIRST

Next time you start to work on a video, plan out what the thumbnail will look like BEFORE you start to film.

Yes, this seems counterintuitive, but by doing this, it will shift your perspective on what you will include in the video. In addition, you will increase the likelihood that your video will deliver on the perceived promise of the thumbnail that attracted the click in the first place. This will lead to higher audience retention and further prompt YouTube to surface your video to new viewers.

Why do it this way?

Videos with poor thumbnails will get lost in YouTube.

If you think of your thumbnails as an afterthought, your channel will never see any meaningful growth.

A friend of mine started a channel about 3 years ago and posted new content fairly consistently. Here videos were informative and helpful, but she didn't spend any time on her thumbnails. They were literally screenshots (probably picked by YouTube) of moments in the video. No text, no planning, and no results.

Most of her videos received around 25-50 views, and she seems to have stopped posting about 6 months ago with 500 subscribers. She had 139 videos on her channel.

This is what happens when you don't pay attention to your thumbnails.

When nobody clicks on your video, YouTube will stop showing your video in search results, as a suggested video, and most importantly, on the home-screen (where the real growth happens).

Stop being lazy with your thumbnails. Take some time to make them look good. You want people to see your amazing videos - having a good thumbnail is a great way to start.